Wilson up 879 in Pre-certified Count

Rep. Heather Wilson edged Democratic challenger Patricia Madrid by 879 votes in the final, unofficial 1st Congressional District tally completed late Friday, bucking a national trend that pushed many other Republicans out of office.

The four-term Republican incumbent ended up with a total of 105,916 votes, compared with 105,037 for Madrid.
The final, unofficial tally came as Bernalillo County completed its count 10 days after the Nov. 7 election.

The two-term New Mexico attorney general's hopes of riding the anti-Republican wave to Washington fell short by a margin of less than a half-percent.

Wilson declared victory two nights after the election, claiming the margin even then was decisive, and her backers never wavered in their confidence as the vote count wore on.

"The people of New Mexico have asked me to continue to represent them in the Congress," Wilson said in a prepared statement Friday night. "I am humbled by that trust, and I will work every day to continue to earn it."
"Mrs. Madrid stood up for what she believed in. We believe in different things, but those who supported her worked hard and I commend them for their effort," Wilson said.

Madrid did not concede after Wilson's announcement last week, and a spokeswoman late Friday said she would wait for final numbers to come in before deciding whether to concede or seek a recount.

The Bernalillo County canvassing board is to meet Monday afternoon to finalize the elections results. Madrid spokeswoman Heather Brewer said the Madrid campaign would decide what to do then.

"Other people can declare victory before all the votes are counted, but we choose to wait and let democracy run its course," Brewer said. "Our perspective is when every vote is counted, when every voter has had their say, that's when the results are final."

The door to Congress appears to have slammed shut on state Attorney General Patricia Madrid, though her camp continues to insist Madrid might still squeeze through.

Unofficial but final vote tallies released Friday night by Bernalillo County gave Republican U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson an 879-vote victory over Madrid in what had become a strident, expensive and drawn-out campaign to represent the 1st Congressional District.

Election officials will spend the weekend checking their work, but County Clerk Mary Herrera said a change in the numbers now "doesn't seem possible."

Still, Madrid did not concede the race and spokeswoman Heather Brewer said the campaign was determined to wait until the results are finalized Monday to decide whether to seek a recount.

"We're not talking about a recount right now because the count is not done," Brewer said. "We want to let democracy run its course."